Gisele Bündchen
Taylor Swift
Blake Lively
Elle Fanning
X-Men Days of future past - World Premiere
ennifer Lawrence was glamorous and gorgeous in Mystique blue, donning a long, slinky, Jason Wu gown with spaghetti straps and an open back at the world premiere for "X-Men: Days of Future Past" at the Javits Center in New York City. With her short hair swept back on one side, Lawrence told Yahoo Movies that the whirlwind publicity tour has left her confused over what country she was even in. She said, "I actually did have one moment in another interview where I thought I was in Germany." She shouldn't get too used to the Big Apple, though. She said that after the premiere she'll be jetting back to Paris where she'll continue work on "Mockingjay," the final chapters of "The Hunger Games" series.
Famke Janssen attends the "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" world premiere at Jacob Javits Center on May 10, 2014 in New York City.
Emma Roberts attends the "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" world premiere at Jacob Javits Center on May 10, 2014 in New York City.
Nicholas Hoult attends the "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" world premiere at Jacob Javits Center on May 10, 2014 in New York City.
James McAvoy attends the "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" world premiere at Jacob Javits Center on May 10, 2014 in New York City.
Fan Bingbing attends the "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" world premiere at Jacob Javits Center on May 10, 2014 in New York City.
Cast of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' pose at the premiere of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Saturday, May 10, 2014, in New York City.
PC Slowing Down? Here’s How to Speed It Up with Windows’ Disk Optimization Tools
You took the first step — buying technology. Now all you have to do is master it. We're here to help, with tips and tricks you may have missed. If you know them already — well done, guru! If not — there's no better time to start learning than right now.
Modern PCs don't require as much maintenance as they once did. But showing your hard drive some love now and then can make a difference in its speed and efficiency, especially if it's fairly full. Here it is: the non-techie's guide to optimizing your system using Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter.
Disk Cleanup
As you use your computer, Windows litters your hard drive with temporary files. Programs, utilities, and websites scatter disposable files everywhere. If you could see your hard drive's surface, it would eventually look like the floor of a minivan whose owners eat a lot of fast food.
As you use your computer, Windows litters your hard drive with temporary files. Programs, utilities, and websites scatter disposable files everywhere. If you could see your hard drive's surface, it would eventually look like the floor of a minivan whose owners eat a lot of fast food.
To run Windows' built-in housekeeper program, the quickest route is this: Open the Start screen. Type "disk cleanup" and select Settings under the search box. In the search results, click Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files. (Disk Cleanup is also available in the Control Panel.)
The Disk Cleanup program dives right in. If you have more than one drive, it lets you choose the one you want to work on; then it goes to work, inspecting your drive and reporting on files you can safely remove.
Left to its own devices, it will clean up only your files. But if you'd like to clean up all the files on the computer, including Microsoft's own detritus, click Clean up system files. Authenticate yourself if necessary.
The Disk Cleanup dialog box shown above appears when the inspection is over. Turn on the checkboxes of the file categories you'd like to have cleaned out, and then click OK to send them to the digital landfill. It's like getting a bigger hard drive for free.
Disk Defragmenter
When you save a new file, Windows records its information onto the hard drive in small pieces called blocks. On a new PC, Windows lays the blocks end to end on the hard drive's surface. Later, when you type more data into a document (thus enlarging it), the file no longer fits in the same space. Windows puts as much of the file in the original location as can fit, but it may have to store a few of its blocks in the next empty spot on the hard drive.
When you save a new file, Windows records its information onto the hard drive in small pieces called blocks. On a new PC, Windows lays the blocks end to end on the hard drive's surface. Later, when you type more data into a document (thus enlarging it), the file no longer fits in the same space. Windows puts as much of the file in the original location as can fit, but it may have to store a few of its blocks in the next empty spot on the hard drive.
Ordinarily, you'll never even notice that your files are getting chopped up in this way, since they open promptly and seamlessly. Windows keeps track of where it has stored the various pieces and reconstitutes them when necessary.
As your drive fills up, though, the free space that's left is made up of smaller and smaller groups of blocks. Eventually, a new file may not fit in a single "parking place" on the hard drive's surface, since there are no free spaces left large enough to hold it. Windows may have to store a file in several different areas of the disk, or even hundreds.
When you try to open such a fragmented file, the drive heads (which read the disk) must scamper all over the disk surface, rounding up each block in turn, which is slower than reading contiguous blocks one after the other. Over time, this file fragmentation gets worse and worse. Eventually, you wind up griping to your buddies or spouse that you need a new computer, because this one seems to have gotten so slow.
The solution: Disk Defragmenter, a program that puts together pieces of files that have become fragmented on your drive. The "defragger" also rearranges the files on your drives to make the operating system and programs load more quickly. A freshly defragged PC feels faster and more responsive than a heavily fragmented one.
(UPDATE: This advice, and this program, apply to traditional spinning hard drives — not the solid-state drives [SSDs] on some high-end laptops. For much more on the "defragging SSDs" issue, here's a good primer.)
Windows' disk-defragging software runs automatically at regular intervals, in the tiny moments when you're not actually typing or clicking. It's like having someone take out your garbage for you whenever the can is full. Slow-PC syndrome should, therefore, be a much less frequent occurrence.
Even though Windows defrags your hard drive automatically in the background, though, you can still exert some control. For example, you can change the schedule, and you can trigger a defragmentation manually when you're feeling like a control freak.
Start by opening the Disk Defragmenter main screen. You can get there via the Control Panel, or from the Start screen. Type "disk defrag" and select Settings under the search box. In the search results, clickDefragment and optimize your drives.
The Disk Defragmenter windows opens (as shown above). From here you can either adjust the schedule or trigger defragmentation manually:
• Adjust the schedule. Click Configure schedule. Authenticate yourself if necessary. A screen appears, showing that Windows ordinarily defrags your disk late every Wednesday night (at 1 a.m., in fact). You can use the pop-up menus here to specify a Weekly, Daily, or Monthly schedule, complete with day-of-week and time-of-day options. Click OK, and then OK again.
• Manually. Click Defragment disk; the defragmenter does its work. Depending on the size of your hard disk, your processor speed, and the amount of fragmentation, it will take anywhere from several minutes to several hours.
Tip: During the defragmentation process, Windows picks up pieces of your files and temporarily sets them down in a different spot, like somebody trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. If your hard drive is very full, defragmenting will take a lot longer than if you have some empty space available — and if there's not enough free disk space, Windows can't do the job completely. Before you run Disk Defragmenter, use Disk Cleanup and make as much free disk space as possible.
The Most Iconic Wedding Dresses Ever
When it comes to selecting the perfect wedding gown, many brides are influenced by pop culture (whether they want to admit it or not). From the most stylish celebrity brides to the incredibly memorable nuptials in film and TV, a select group of trendsetting gowns now dominate Pinterest boards, scrapbooks, and the knockoffs on retail shelves. Whether they're revolutionary, over-the-top, surprising, or just plain gorgeous, behold the most influential wedding dresses of all time. By Joanna Douglas, Yahoo Shine Senior Fashion and Beauty Editor
Grace Kelly, 1956
When the American actress wed Monaco's Prince Rainier III, she wore, in effect, a piece of Hollywood. Her elaborate gown, which was made of 90 yards of tulle, 25 yards of silk taffeta, antique rose-point lace, and pearls, took Helen Rose, a costume designer at MGM (which gave the dress to Kelly as a gift), and three dozen seamstresses a total of six weeks to create. Many have said that the dress may have inspired Kate Middleton's wedding gown.
When the American actress wed Monaco's Prince Rainier III, she wore, in effect, a piece of Hollywood. Her elaborate gown, which was made of 90 yards of tulle, 25 yards of silk taffeta, antique rose-point lace, and pearls, took Helen Rose, a costume designer at MGM (which gave the dress to Kelly as a gift), and three dozen seamstresses a total of six weeks to create. Many have said that the dress may have inspired Kate Middleton's wedding gown.
Elizabeth Taylor as Kay Banks in "Father of the Bride," 1950
The same costume designer created this elaborate layered gown for the classic film. Taylor loved the design so much that she had Rose design a very similar dress for her (first) real-life wedding to Conrad Hilton later that year.
The same costume designer created this elaborate layered gown for the classic film. Taylor loved the design so much that she had Rose design a very similar dress for her (first) real-life wedding to Conrad Hilton later that year.
Gwen Stefani, 2002
The singer is well-known for her style, but she made more fashion headlines than usual when she donned an ombre pink, John Galliano dress for her marriage to Gavin Rossdale in London. Stefani was so in love with the dress that two weeks later, when the couple had a second ceremony in Los Angeles, she decided to wear it again. She later donated it to the Victoria and Albert Museum, saying it was a "piece of art," and the dress has become an inspiration for brides seeking out blush-colored gowns.
The singer is well-known for her style, but she made more fashion headlines than usual when she donned an ombre pink, John Galliano dress for her marriage to Gavin Rossdale in London. Stefani was so in love with the dress that two weeks later, when the couple had a second ceremony in Los Angeles, she decided to wear it again. She later donated it to the Victoria and Albert Museum, saying it was a "piece of art," and the dress has become an inspiration for brides seeking out blush-colored gowns.
Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf in "Gossip Girl," 2012
For Queen B's second wedding, she had no trouble finding "something blue." This icy beaded Elie Saab was a stunning sendoff on the final episode of the series when, at long last, Blair married Chuck Bass.
For Queen B's second wedding, she had no trouble finding "something blue." This icy beaded Elie Saab was a stunning sendoff on the final episode of the series when, at long last, Blair married Chuck Bass.
Bianca Jagger, 1971
Eschewing a traditional wedding dress, Mick Jagger's bride turned to designer Yves Saint Laurent for his expertise. "Contrary to popular wisdom, it wasn't a trouser suit: it was a long, narrow skirt and a jacket," Bianca Jagger wrote in The Guardian. "He made the wide-brimmed hat with a veil and we decided that instead of carrying a bouquet I should wear a flower corsage on my wrist to go with the suit."
Eschewing a traditional wedding dress, Mick Jagger's bride turned to designer Yves Saint Laurent for his expertise. "Contrary to popular wisdom, it wasn't a trouser suit: it was a long, narrow skirt and a jacket," Bianca Jagger wrote in The Guardian. "He made the wide-brimmed hat with a veil and we decided that instead of carrying a bouquet I should wear a flower corsage on my wrist to go with the suit."
Keira Knightley, 2013
In perhaps the coolest move ever, Knightley pulled a pretty, knee-length, tulle Chanel dress out of her closet for her wedding to musician James Righton. She had already worn it publicly to a BAFTA Awards afterparty in 2008, but that didn't stop her from recycling the dress for her big day, when she accessorized it with a cropped Chanel tweed jacket and black Wayfarer sunglasses. She later wore it again to a gala and supposedly ruined it with red wine, but at least she made some great memories in the dress!
In perhaps the coolest move ever, Knightley pulled a pretty, knee-length, tulle Chanel dress out of her closet for her wedding to musician James Righton. She had already worn it publicly to a BAFTA Awards afterparty in 2008, but that didn't stop her from recycling the dress for her big day, when she accessorized it with a cropped Chanel tweed jacket and black Wayfarer sunglasses. She later wore it again to a gala and supposedly ruined it with red wine, but at least she made some great memories in the dress!
Princess Diana, 1981
The princess of Wales broke royal wedding records for her gown's unforgettable 25-foot train. The dress, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, may have overwhelmed her frame, but it suited the times. The ivory silk taffeta and antique lace skirt was filled up with layers of petticoats, while puffed sleeves and a flounce collar embellished the top.
The princess of Wales broke royal wedding records for her gown's unforgettable 25-foot train. The dress, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, may have overwhelmed her frame, but it suited the times. The ivory silk taffeta and antique lace skirt was filled up with layers of petticoats, while puffed sleeves and a flounce collar embellished the top.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, 2008
The couple wore Zac Posen creations that perfectly suited their personal styles. The hilarious TV host chose a white shirt, vest, and pants, while Rossi opted for a pale pink tulle gown.
The couple wore Zac Posen creations that perfectly suited their personal styles. The hilarious TV host chose a white shirt, vest, and pants, while Rossi opted for a pale pink tulle gown.
Claire Danes as Juliet Capulet in "Romeo + Juliet," 1996
The modern remake of the Shakespeare classic also featured a revamped wardrobe. Juliet's simple, silky, button-up, sleeveless dress and slightly messy updo suited the new '90s incarnation.
The modern remake of the Shakespeare classic also featured a revamped wardrobe. Juliet's simple, silky, button-up, sleeveless dress and slightly messy updo suited the new '90s incarnation.
Queen Victoria, 1840
Ever wonder why women wear white down the aisle? This wide-necked gown the queen wore to marry Prince Albert is responsible for the still-followed trend.
Ever wonder why women wear white down the aisle? This wide-necked gown the queen wore to marry Prince Albert is responsible for the still-followed trend.
Yoko Ono, 1969
In a fitting sign of the times, John Lennon's bride wore a white minidress with knee socks, cool sunglasses, and a hat. Zsa Zsa Gaborfamously said that the newlyweds looked like "two people going to hold up a bank." They didn't.
In a fitting sign of the times, John Lennon's bride wore a white minidress with knee socks, cool sunglasses, and a hat. Zsa Zsa Gaborfamously said that the newlyweds looked like "two people going to hold up a bank." They didn't.
Kate Middleton, 2011
An estimated 3 billion people tuned in to watch Middleton marry Prince William and become the Duchess of Cambridge in the insanely hyped wedding. But the real reason people were watching, of course, was to see the dress! After loads of rumors, Middleton entered Westminster Abbey wearing a stunningAlexander McQueen corset dress with a lace bodice by Sarah Burton.
An estimated 3 billion people tuned in to watch Middleton marry Prince William and become the Duchess of Cambridge in the insanely hyped wedding. But the real reason people were watching, of course, was to see the dress! After loads of rumors, Middleton entered Westminster Abbey wearing a stunningAlexander McQueen corset dress with a lace bodice by Sarah Burton.
A Banana Almond Smoothie to Cleanse Body and Soul
A trick we like: Peel all overripe bananas and put in the freezer, then use to make supercreamy smoothies (and banana bread as well). If you haven't prefrozen a banana, though, don't worry—throw a few ice cubes into the blender for a slushier effect.
Ingredients:
- 1 frozen peeled banana, broken into 3–4 chunks
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Preparation:
Combine banana, almond milk, almond butter, and almond extract, if using, in a blender and puree until smooth.
The tablet market's problem is Apple, not the other way around
Is the sky falling over the once-hot tablet category?
Yes, Apple's (AAPL) iPad sales dropped 16% in the first quarter, while International Data Corp. says sales of all tablets worldwide climbed only 4%. But look closer and it's clear iPad sales are slipping for a couple of reasons that don't apply to the market as a whole. As the tablet market has expanded quickly to include more mainstream consumers, Apple's full-featured and lower-priced competitors largely caught up to the iPad. And after introducing the iPad Mini in 2012, Apple failed to adapt its winning strategy with the iPod, not keeping up as entry-level prices dropped further.
Apple so dominated the tablet market a few years ago that its slowing sales have skewed the overall picture. In the first quarter, Apple's sales of iPads dropped 16% from a year earlier to 16 million devices, while the rest of the market increased by 17% to 34 million, according to IDC. The disparity was even worse for all of last year, when iPad sales rose just 15% to 70 million while the rest of the market more than doubled to 125 million, according to Gartner.
Apple so dominated the tablet market a few years ago that its slowing sales have skewed the overall picture. In the first quarter, Apple's sales of iPads dropped 16% from a year earlier to 16 million devices, while the rest of the market increased by 17% to 34 million, according to IDC. The disparity was even worse for all of last year, when iPad sales rose just 15% to 70 million while the rest of the market more than doubled to 125 million, according to Gartner.
That wasn't just booming sales of no-name tablets in emerging markets making Apple look bad. Apple's share in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom and France has steadily eroded as well.
Cook's excuses
CEO Tim Cook, talking to analysts about the first-quarter decline, was ready with excuses, citing shifting inventory pressure and the rapid growth of iPad sales in earlier years. But with iPad growth trailing the market for about a year now, the real answer seems to be straight out of Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen's famous book, "The Innovator's Dilemma." Apple grabbed an early lead with an innovative new product, only to fade as competitors eventually caught up with cheaper, "good enough" products. Just as General Motors (GM) ignored Toyota's (TM) crummy little cars and Lucent didn't see how Cisco Systems' (CSCO) less capable network gear could compete, Tim Cook now seems oblivious to cheaper tablets.
CEO Tim Cook, talking to analysts about the first-quarter decline, was ready with excuses, citing shifting inventory pressure and the rapid growth of iPad sales in earlier years. But with iPad growth trailing the market for about a year now, the real answer seems to be straight out of Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen's famous book, "The Innovator's Dilemma." Apple grabbed an early lead with an innovative new product, only to fade as competitors eventually caught up with cheaper, "good enough" products. Just as General Motors (GM) ignored Toyota's (TM) crummy little cars and Lucent didn't see how Cisco Systems' (CSCO) less capable network gear could compete, Tim Cook now seems oblivious to cheaper tablets.
Apple's efforts to improve the iPad, with faster processors or thinner cases, haven't been compelling enough to convince consumers they can't meet their needs with lower-priced gear. It's true, for example, that Apple's custom-designed "A7" processor is more powerful than the chips in competing products. But consumers don't yet see a need for all that horsepower. After all, almost no one's running the full blown version of Photoshop on a tablet, and typical gaming apps seem to run fine on devices that cost half the price of an iPad.
That was less of a problem a few years ago, when the market consisted of less price-sensitive early adopters. Tablet buyers in 2011 shopped more based on their preferred brand in 2011, according to research by Gartner. By last year, design and price were the key traits for tablet shoppers. These newer buyers have also proven less likely to upgrade their tablet as frequently as early adopters, slowing the replacement rate for the entire segment.
"We're seeing a bit of the natural adoption cycle going on with tablets," says John Barrett, an analyst with Parks Associates. "Early buyers want lots of features, which is Apple's forte. The value shoppers come later and they're more willing to make trade-offs for price."
The second Apple issue is related to the first. At the low end of the market, tablets costing a few hundred dollars or less, Apple has left a so-called price umbrella for competitors. Apple lowered its entry price from $499 to $329 at the end 2012 with the iPad Mini. But since then, it has only cut the price of the Mini by $30 while competitors including Samsung, Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) have gone much lower. Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 4 sells for $200 and Amazon is selling tablets for as little as $129.
This is in contrast to Apple's iPod strategy. By releasing cheaper and cheaper models, even though they were also increasingly less capable, Apple kept iPod buyers in its ecosystem and helped the category-defining music player to maintain an iron grip on the market for over a decade. When a consumer was ready to move up and spend more, they were already in Apple's camp. And if an existing high-end iPod customer wanted to buy another, cheaper model, maybe for a child, Apple was ready.
To be sure, the situation is complicated by apps. Playing music is a relatively simple function and any iPod from cheapest to most expensive could take advantage of a customer's entire music library. Apps are more complex and Apple generally doesn't want to make life difficult for developers by introducing incompatible models that would require too many different versions of apps. But Apple maintains separate app stores for iPhones and iPads. And Apple is rumored to be working on a phablet, one of those devices with a 6-inch or so screen that fits between a phone and a tablet, so perhaps that's how it will address the price gap.
Some Apple defenders have argued that the iPad sales slowdown has nothing to do with competition, because other tablets can't substitute for the iPad and its rich ecosystem of apps and media. They say the iPad slowdown is just part of the whole tablet market slowing. Fewer people than analysts expected may want a tablet, as consumers are relying on their smartphones or personal computers, these defenders say.
Such analysts probably haven't spent much time watching salespeople at wireless carriers and electronics stores pitching non-Apple tablets to iPad-hunting customers, but there may be some truth to the argument. Still, smartphone sales growth has also slowed sharply, again led by Apple, and computer sales remain in decline, providing little evidence of a shift away from tablets. And Apple competitors such as Samsung and Lenovo are continuing to see strong tablet growth, despite the iPad's hiccups. Also, Google searchers increasingly are looking to compare all tablets rather than just iPad models.
Either way, many consumers are buying other tablets instead of an iPad.
Faulty evidence
The evidence cited to show other tablets aren't bought as iPad replacements is in certain usage statistics. If people buy the iPad for some uses and other tablets for completely different uses, the argument goes, the two markets are distinct. But the usage evidence doesn't make the case.
For example, about 77% of tablet-based website traffic comes from iPads, down only slightly from 81% last year, according to the Chitika advertising network. That is likely a backward-looking indicator reflecting Apple's lead in the early years of tablet sales. A similar statistic was often cited to defend slipping iPhone market share a few years ago, but traffic from phones has since evened out.
And even with the current imbalance, Web surfing only reveals one small way in which tablets are used. For online video watching, the stats are more even. And consumer surveys have found over and over again that the most popular activities on tablets include email, gaming and social media, along with watching video and listening to music. Gartner's consumer surveys have found owners of various tablets including those sold by Apple, Samsung and Google are about equally likely to engage in those activities.
The 5 Toughest Personalities at Work--and How to Manage Them
Running a business would be easy if only you didn't have to manage people. The bigger your company grows, the smaller the likelihood that everyone in it will be easy to supervise. As the boss you always (or almost always) have the option to terminate anyone who is truly a drag on your company. But good talent is hard to find, so before you go down that road, it's worth the effort to try and make a difficult person work more effectively within your company.
When faced with a problem personality, most of us do one of two things: We either confront the person head-on, leading to escalating hostility, or else avoid dealing with him or her and leave the problem to worsen. Neither is an effective solution, and as your company's leader, neither is an option.
There's a better way, according to Judith Orloff, M.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA, and author of "The Ecstasy of Surrender." Instead of being rigid and laying down the law, you can use a sort of communication aikido to channel troublesome employee' own energies in ways that will benefit themselves, their co-workers, and your company.
"Let go of re activity," Orloff advises. "People typically react when their buttons get pushed. If that happens to you, take a break, breathe, and center yourself. Then respond calmly and firmly rather than getting caught up in their dances. As a role model for others, you have to be in a higher place."
Here's a look at five of the most challenging personalities Orloff has encountered, and how to manage them effectively:
1. Narcissists
Narcissists have an inflated sense of their own importance and crave constant attention and praise, Orloff explains. "They're self-absorbed and lack the capacity for empathy," she adds. "You have to realize that this person won't care what other people are feeling, which is a huge drawback in the workplace."
Telling someone how their behavior is making others feel, or working to the detriment of the company--an effective approach with many employees--won't work at all when you're dealing with a narcissist. Narcissists are also extremely sensitive to criticism of any kind and liable to react badly, she says. "If you want to keep them on and want them to be productive, you have to frame things in terms of how it might serve them," Orloff says. "That's the only thing they'll respond to."
What's a good role for a narcissist? Interestingly, Orloff says, they will often do well in positions of power, because they take that power very seriously and value it highly, and often work very hard in those roles. "Narcissists are running the world," she says.
2. Passive-Aggressive Types
"They will promise to help you with a project but then they don't. Or they'll show up 15 minutes late," Orloff says. "Passive-aggressiveness is a form of anger, but not an outright form." You may be tempted to try and get to the bottom of what's making them angry and try to resolve the problem. Don't go there, Orloff advises. "It's a character disorder. You have to dig very deep," she says.
Another thing to watch out for is your own reaction to passive-aggressive people, she says. "Passive-aggressive people will leave you dangling. They can make you feel you're not worthwhile because they don't show up for you in a consistent way. They can get to you without you knowing it."
How do you deal with passive-aggressive employees? Unlike narcissists, they do have the capacity for empathy. They also want to advance in your workplace, and you can use both these traits to help motivate them. Mainly, Orloff says, you have to set very, very clear expectations. "The only way is to very clearly say what you need from them and when. 'It's very important that you show up on time for our meetings,' for example." Chances are they'll try to slip through any loophole they can find, so you have to be very precise about what you want them to do.
Not surprisingly, Orloff recommends placing passive-aggressive employees in jobs where there are very specific guidelines and expectations laid out for them. In more open-ended roles, she says, "They'll drive everyone crazy."
3. Gossips
Every workplace will have a certain amount of gossiping, but if one of your employees enjoys reporting bad news about you, others in your company, or even the competition, that's destructive behavior and you need to do something about it.
The first step toward dealing with a gossip is not to get sucked in yourself. Don't participate in gossiping which can be hard to resist, depending on the subject of the conversation. Even more important, don't give in to the natural human desire to know exactly what's being said about you, or to try to please everyone so they'll only have good things to say.
Beyond that, it's a good idea to call the gossip on his or her behavior, and explain that it's not helpful for your workplace. "Bringing their attention to it will curtail it a bit," Orloff says. "It's good to do because if you don't, it will go unchecked." Beyond that, she advises talking about gossip and its destructive effect to the company in general. "The workplace is a breeding ground for gossip," she says. "If you address it honestly and explain why it's not good for your company, you give employees permission to tell people that they don't want to participate in gossip."
On the plus side, gossips often have good people skills, Orloff says. "They like talking, so if you give them a positive place where they can talk, you can channel their abilities for the good," she says. "Maybe sales is a good role."
4. Anger Addicts
Some people deal with workplace tensions by accusing their co-workers of misdeeds, yelling at others, and generally giving their angry feelings free rein. These are some of the most challenging employees you'll have to deal with.
Whatever you do, don't let them get away with it. "This situation needs an intervention," Orloff says. "That's unacceptable behavior. They have to be given very strong limits and boundaries. It will destroy a workplace if people are having tantrums."
As the boss, you'll either have to take anger addicts aside, or get someone in Human Resources to do so. Either way, they need to hear that their expressions of anger are inappropriate. Offer them the opportunity to go for counseling. And face the fact that anger addicts may not have a future at your company since repeated rages can potentially drag your whole organization down.
5. Guilt Trippers
Guilt trippers lay it on thick. If you gave a plum assignment or perk to someone else, or otherwise slighted them or made their work more difficult, they'll let you know just how much of a grievance they have. They may lay the same guilt trip on co-workers who they feel have slighted them as well.
With guilt trippers, Orloff advises educating them on how to communicate better. "A guilt tripper doesn't know anything about communication," she says. "Using the word I--'I feel this way,' rather than 'You did this to me.' Just an education about that might be a help." You can also talk to them about the effect their comments are having, since guilt trippers often don't realize how they're affecting others.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)